During the Gulf Food Show I must have visited a number of Chocolatiers, Chocolate Producers and Companies offering professional chocolates for chefs.  It seems to me that most of them aim the luxury market and it was true until a few months ago; here in Dubai people where spending thousands of Dhirams on chocolate for one single occasion! Not anymore, or at least not right this moment. Now they are after quality and branding, French or Swiss origin is almost branding for itself.
It comes to me as a surprise when I was introduced to Chocoalteorganiko by the owner Carlos Ortiz del Rio Blas who came to Dubai in search of a distributor for his products; organic chocolate with a twist, made in Spain; it is really good!

The Company

In 2006 we made our dream a reality, we set up a small chocolate atelier in Madrid, Spain, where we could make and design our own chocolate, all from 100% Organic Trinitario Cocoa Beans from the Dominican Republic and Trinidad Island. In our study we select the best Organic raw materials which, together with cacao make our chocolate a unique product, special for the best palates.

ChocoLate Orgániko is a spanish company, formed from a group of professionals of both, the industrial design and the communication sectors and, of course, of the chocolate’s world. The passion for this one unified us and we decided to elaborate a pure chocolate without additives, totally natural. All together combined with an exclusive design which transmitted our passion by the care and the purity of the elements. For us, it is a pleasure to show you a ChocoLate Orgániko, of aroma and flavour natural 100%.

www.chocolateorganiko.es

Concentrated Pork Soup & Crab curry

No matter where you look in Bangkok; there is always someone offering food in the smallest Soi or largest highway. Thais are constantly snacking and it seems their life rhythm is dictated by eating. No wonder with all that food around; myself got caught in this and was eating up the five times a day. I never had a bad meal and this is because I looked out for places where the local went to eat. That meant good food to a good price. I was never let down by this formula. Larger hotels of course have their own restaurants but don’t be fooled by this; unless it is a five star hotel with a renowned Thai restaurant do not visit those restaurants where they serve Chinese, Indian, Thai and European food all in one place!

Catfish with green Mango & Som Tam

Chicken Barbeque & Singha Beer

The ingredient found in almost all Thai dishes and every region of the country is nam pla, a very aromatic and strong tasting fish sauce. Shrimp paste, a combination of ground shrimp and salt, is also extensively used.
Thai dishes in the Central and Southern regions use a wide variety of leaves rarely found in the West, such as kaffir lime leaves (bai makrut. The characteristic flavour of kaffir lime leaves appear in nearly every Thai soup (e.g., the hot and sour Tom yam) or curry from those areas. It is frequently combined with garlic, galangal, lemon grass, turmeric and/or fingerroot (krachai), blended together with liberal amounts of various chillies to make curry paste. Fresh Thai basil is also used to add fragrance in certain dishes such as Green curry. Other typical ingredients include the small green Thai eggplants, tamarind, palm and coconut sugars, lime juice, and coconut milk. A variety of chilies and spicy elements are found in most Thai dishes.
Other ingredients also include pahk chee (cilantro or coriander), rahk pahk chee (cilantro/coriander roots), curry pastes, pong kah-ree (curry powder), si-yu dahm (dark soy sauce), gung haeng (dried shrimp), pong pa-loh (five-spice powder), tua fahk yao (long beans or yard-long beans), nahmahn hoi (oyster sauce), prik Thai (Thai pepper), rice and tapioca flour, and nahm prik pao (roasted chilli paste).
Although broccoli is often used in Asian restaurants in the west in pad thai and rad na, it was never actually used in any traditional Thai food in Thailand and is still rarely seen in Thailand. Usually, gailan is used

Thai Prawn Omelette & Barbeque Pork

Instead of a multiple main course with side dishes found in Western cuisine, a Thai full meal typically consists of either a single dish or rice khao with many complementary dishes served concurrently.
Rice is a staple component of Thai cuisine, as it is of most Asian cuisines. The highly prized, sweet-smelling jasmine rice is indigenous to Thailand. This naturally aromatic long-grained rice grows in abundance in the verdant patchwork of paddy fields that blanket Thailand’s central plains. Steamed rice is accompanied by highly aromatic curries, stir-frys and other dishes, incorporating sometimes large quantities of chillies, lime juice and lemon grass. Curries, stir-frys and others may be poured onto the rice creating a single dish called khao rad gang, a popular meal when time is limited. Sticky rice (khao neow, is a unique variety of rice that contains an unusual balance of the starches present in all rice, causing it to cook up to a sticky texture. It is the daily bread of Laos and substitutes ordinary rice in rural Northern and Northeastern Thai cuisine, where Lao cultural influence is strong.
Noodles, known in much of Southeast Asia by the Chinese name kwaytiow, are popular as well but usually come as a single dish, like the stir-fried Pad Thai or noodle soups. Many Chinese cuisine are adapted to suit Thai taste, such as khuaytiow rua, a sour and spicy rice noodle soup.
There is a uniquely Thai dish called nam prik which refers to a chili sauce or paste. Each region has its own special versions. It is prepared by crushing together chilies with various ingredients such as garlic and shrimp paste using a mortar and pestle. It is then often served with vegetables such as cucumbers, cabbage and yard-long beans, either raw or blanched. The vegetables are dipped into the sauce and eaten with rice. Nam prik may also be simply eaten alone with rice or, in a bit of Thai and Western fusion, spread on toast.
Thai food is generally eaten with a fork and a spoon. Chopsticks are used rarely, primarily for the consumption of noodle soups. The fork, held in the left hand, is used to push food into the spoon. However, it is common practice for Thais and hill tribe peoples in the North and Northeast to eat sticky rice with their right hands by making it into balls that are dipped into side dishes and eaten. Thai-Muslims also frequently eat meals with only their right hands.
Often Thai food is served with a variety of spicy condiments to embolden dishes. This can range from dried chili pieces, or sliced chili peppers in rice vinegar, to a spicy chili sauce such as the nam prik mentioned above.

Going to Bangkok presents you with a wide world of photo opportunity and usually tourists are snapping one after the other temple or Wat, floating market and the river. My task I prepared before my departure was to focus on green objects, not necessary green plants but in general; Green!

Sukumhvit road

Tonburi

Siam Square & World Trade Center

Chatuchak

Chatuchak

Tonburi

Tonburi